A scene from “Blessed land” - PHOTO: COURTESY OF FILM CREW

The setting of the short film is an old cemetery in the middle of a dune landscape, where a mother and her son wander between graves in search of the resting place of the deceased father.

But the family soon realizes the dunes are now part of a golf course overlooking the city. The cemetery has been sold and the old graves have been excavated. The short film is described by the director as “a re-zoning of towns and places in the course of society’s commercialization”.

“With imagery haunted by the dense layers of history […] and a subtle interrogation of points of tension between class, economics, progress and spirituality, this is a rewarding, multi-faceted viewing experience,” said the jury about the movie.

Founded in 1982, the Uppsala International Short Film Festival has become Sweden’s premier arena for short films and one of the most important short film festivals in Europe.

Every year the festival screens more than 300 short films in different sections exploring the diversity and richness of the short film, from new film to retrospective program, fiction film, documentary, experimental film and animation. SGT